![DOJ Report Confirms Racism Is Alive and Well in Ferguson. Now What?](https://www.thenation.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/michael_brown_memorial_rtr_img_1.jpg)
DOJ Report Confirms Racism Is Alive and Well in Ferguson. Now What? DOJ Report Confirms Racism Is Alive and Well in Ferguson. Now What?
We need decriminalization, not just data.
Mar 6, 2015 / Blog / Mychal Denzel Smith
![Three Years Later, the Legacy of Trayvon Martin and #BlackLivesMatter](https://www.thenation.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/trayvon_martin_ap_img.jpg)
Three Years Later, the Legacy of Trayvon Martin and #BlackLivesMatter Three Years Later, the Legacy of Trayvon Martin and #BlackLivesMatter
The tragic death of Trayvon Martin inspired a new generation of activists who fight to make black lives matter.
Feb 26, 2015 / Blog / Mychal Denzel Smith
![In Order to End Police Brutality, We Need to End the Police](https://www.thenation.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/schomburg_policing_img.png)
In Order to End Police Brutality, We Need to End the Police In Order to End Police Brutality, We Need to End the Police
Activists and organizers gathered at the Schomburg Center to interrogate the current conditions of American policing.
Feb 25, 2015 / Blog / Mychal Denzel Smith
![There’s No #BlackLivesMatter Without Net Neutrality](https://www.thenation.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/blacklivesmatter_lapd_rtr_img.jpg)
There’s No #BlackLivesMatter Without Net Neutrality There’s No #BlackLivesMatter Without Net Neutrality
A new generation of civil rights activists depends on a free Internet.
Feb 11, 2015 / Editorial / Mychal Denzel Smith
![From ‘Victim’ to ‘Threat’: James Baldwin and the Demands of Self-Respect](https://www.thenation.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/baldwinphoto.jpg)
From ‘Victim’ to ‘Threat’: James Baldwin and the Demands of Self-Respect From ‘Victim’ to ‘Threat’: James Baldwin and the Demands of Self-Respect
Baldwin yielded to nobody in his quest to weed racism out of the American garden—root and branch.
Feb 10, 2015 / 150th Anniversary / Mychal Denzel Smith
![Bratton’s Police State on Steroids](https://www.thenation.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/de_blasio_bratton_police_nypd_ap_img_0.jpg)
Bratton’s Police State on Steroids Bratton’s Police State on Steroids
The formation of the NYPD’s new Strategic Response Unit raises disturbing questions about police brutality.
Feb 6, 2015 / Blog / Mychal Denzel Smith
![Martin Luther King Jr.](https://www.thenation.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/mlk_ap_img_2.jpg)
A National Day of Service Is No Honor to MLK A National Day of Service Is No Honor to MLK
Service, without activism, doesn’t capture King’s true radicalism.
Jan 19, 2015 / Blog / Mychal Denzel Smith
![Ava DuVernay: ‘Selma’ Is the ‘Vision of a Black Storyteller Undiluted’](https://www.thenation.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/duvernay_ap_img.jpg)
Ava DuVernay: ‘Selma’ Is the ‘Vision of a Black Storyteller Undiluted’ Ava DuVernay: ‘Selma’ Is the ‘Vision of a Black Storyteller Undiluted’
The director explains why Selma matters now.
Jan 9, 2015 / Blog / Mychal Denzel Smith
![We’ll Need an Economic Program to Make #BlackLivesMatter. Here Are Three Ideas.](https://www.thenation.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/blacklivesmatter_econ_otu_img.jpg)
We’ll Need an Economic Program to Make #BlackLivesMatter. Here Are Three Ideas. We’ll Need an Economic Program to Make #BlackLivesMatter. Here Are Three Ideas.
In a country that has always used race to justify inequality, ending police brutality is just the start.
Jan 7, 2015 / Feature / Jesse A. Myerson and Mychal Denzel Smith
![The Deaths of Two NYPD Officers Is Tragic, but Not an Indictment of the Anti-Brutality Movement](https://www.thenation.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/police_brutality_rally_mohamed_bah_ap_img_0.jpg)
The Deaths of Two NYPD Officers Is Tragic, but Not an Indictment of the Anti-Brutality Movement The Deaths of Two NYPD Officers Is Tragic, but Not an Indictment of the Anti-Brutality Movement
We all should mourn the deaths of Liu and Ramos—but that mourning doesn't mean we become less critical of the police as a violent and racist tool of oppression.
Dec 22, 2014 / Blog / Mychal Denzel Smith